First Extract Brew

[TheJadedDog]

Looks just like it should. If you are going to secondary I would say 7 days in the primary plus another 14 in the secondary should do it. If you're staying in the primary give it at least 14 days.

 

[Purebloom]

Looks just like it should...

You have no idea how comforting it is to hear that! Oh man... I've been stressing these past few days for no reason. What's the benefit of transferring to a secondary.... just more clarity? It sounds like something I want to do, but if I didn't do it that would also mean a decreased possibility of infection. Also, my instructions say 3-7 days in primary and then if not using a secondary ready to bottle. Why do you recommend two weeks? Or one week in primary, two weeks in secondary?

Also some questions on gravity readings. My first reading 1.045 was a little low for what it "should be" 1.050 - 1.055.

And my second reading 1.020 is a little high for a final reading (but that's because it isn't done). So, the gravity number gets lower, but then if you look at alcohol percentage that is lower as well... like 3.8% or something. So, do you take a final reading after it's been bottled and ready to open? Or how do you determine your alcohol percentage from those two numbers. (I have a feeling I'll be flamed, as I have not looked this up very thoroughly... but I just thought of it as I was writing this post).

 

[BierMuncher]

As you're racking to the bottling bucket, siphon off a bit to take a final reading...before you add the priming sugar.

Take the difference of 1.045 - last reading and multiply by 131. That should give you a good final ABV% so you can warn your customers accordingly.

 

[TheJadedDog]

What's the benefit of transferring to a secondary.... just more clarity?

That is it (plus I like mucking about in my beer just that little bit more).

Also, my instructions say 3-7 days in primary and then if not using a secondary ready to bottle. Why do you recommend two weeks? Or one week in primary, two weeks in secondary?

All the times you will see people talk about are just recommendations from their experience and they are just guidelines as every brew is different.

A general "rule" is 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, and 3 weeks in the bottle before drinking. This is mainly based on the fact that, as you will soon see, your beer will get better over time.

This being your first brew, I would suggest taking hydrometer readings on 3 consecutive days, if they don't change, you're ready to bottle.

 

[Purebloom]

Took another gravity reading last night (126 hours after putting in fermentor) and the reading went down a bit more 1.013. I'm planning on transferring to the secondary tomorrow. So far it seems everything is going accordingly!

 

[Purebloom]

Horrible news. Everything seems to be going to plan (fermentation wise), but I found out today that a bag of crushed victory wasn't put in to steep. We had two bags... one was crushed crystal malt, and one was crushed victory malt. The crystal malt was 1lb and the victory malt was 8oz. Is my beer going to taste like ****, will it be drinkable? Man... I messed up so bad.

Anyway, it's in the secondary for another two weeks then into the bottling bucket.

My brother took it out of the box and put it somewhere else and forgot, so I thought I had all the ingredients. I was confused with two steeping bags, but my brother's friend (who has brewed beer) assured me the second one was for filtering the trub when we transferred from the pot to the primary. Oy!!

Please let me know your opinions and if this will taste decent, or will be drinkable. Thanks!

 

[BierMuncher]

Some of the best results were never intentional.

8 Oz of Victory missing won't ruin your brew. It will change your brew...but this being your first...you have nothing to compare it to. Do you know the exact ingredients and amounts of what did go into the brew?

I calc that you are at about 4% ABV. You'll have a nice session pale ale. Something you can drink in the afternoon but still function around the house.

That missing malt may explain your slight miss from your targetted OG.

My only advice? Relax and keep your brother away from your future brew sessions.

By the way, you'll probably be fine with 10 days in the secondary.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I wouldn't worry about a few ounces of specialty grain. Trust me, there are very few "huge" screw-ups you can make. No matter what, you will have been and it will be good!

 

[Purebloom]

I didn't end up getting to transfer to the secondary... so chances are I'll be bottling tomorrow. It's been in the primary for 11 days now... and depending on the gravity reading being similar to my last reading... then I'll be bottling.

So, the best plan of attack is to siphon from primary to bottling bucket, then bottling bucket spigot with hose attached into bottles.... but first I'll be mixing in the priming sugar in the bottling bucket... should I stir this in really well or just dump it in?

As far as stopping between each bottle should I kink the hose, or turn the spigot off... and it will be the first time for me using a red, hand capper. I'll be capping while my brother is controlling flow.

Wish me luck!

 

[TheJadedDog]

First you need to boil your priming sugar in 2-3 cups of water for 10 minutes to sanitize and make a priming solution. Once the solution is cool, pour it into your bottling bucket. (I usually have this going while I am sanitizing my bottles)

Next rack your brew into the bottling bucket, the priming solution will mix in fairly evenly so you need not stir it.

As far as filling your bottles, I cannot stress enough the usefulness of a spring loaded bottle filler; get one ASAP. The bottle filler will take care of filling the bottle to the right level and shutting off the flow between bottles.

I usually fill 8 bottles or so before then cap them, then fill another 8, and so on.

Be prepared for a bit of a mess, and don't worry!

 

[Purebloom]

TheJadedDog and BierMuncher thanks so much for your help and advice throughout this process, you have offered a lot of insight!

 

[Purebloom]

Well, we bottled last night... it took awhile to sanitize all the bottles, all the tools, and really get underway. However, once we began bottling it was a smooth operation. My brother bottled with the auto dealie (when you lift it stops filling) and I did the capping and all the other preparation. Also, my FG reading was 1.011. Which according to the calculation someone gave me 1.045 - 1.011 = .034 * 131 = 4.454 (Apprx 4.5% ABV). Which is IMO quite a bit lower than what we were shooting for for an IPA (Around 5.6). Oh well... I took a sip once we were finished with all the bottles and I must say other than not having carbonation the taste was really delicious.... just a tad more mellow I believe due to the lower ABV, but nonetheless really a delicious beer.

Now, as long as my bottles don't explode and everything is all good... in a couple weeks I'll have some delicious beer!

 

[BierMuncher]

Great job...now:

Don't drink them.
Don't expect them to be carb'd in 2 weeks.
Keep them at 70+ degrees
Go buy some micro brew and quench your thirst with those.
Get busy with your next recipe.

Enjoy...

 

[Purebloom]

Okay here are some pictures of the bottling process at my brother's house. My brother just recently bought this house and is completely renovating it... so that will explain the missing cupboards, no tiling, etc (if you even notice).

Now, onto the pictures!

Sanitizing

Sanitizing

Starting the siphon

Getting pissed about getting my picture taken so many times!

 

[Purebloom]

Being nice

Brother, Myself

Going into the bottling bucket

Yeast

 

[Purebloom]

Tonight I'll be sampling my beer. It's been in the bottle for one week and one day. I know it's not "ready" until 3 or 4 weeks, but I atleast have to try one!

I'll post a picture of how it's looking and if I come back disappointed, be sure to remind me that I still need to give it a couple weeks and it'll be great!

Hah.

 

[BierMuncher]

Go for it. Don't be at all disappointed if it shows absolutely no signs of carbing up yet. Seems like mine alwasy go 2 weeks with nothing and then there is this 2-day window where all of a sudden....fizz.

 

[Purebloom]

The whole brewing process was a lot of fun... and I was pretty sure even before my taste tonight that I wanted to do it again, but it gets you way more hooked if your first batch is delicious... and I must say... it is delicious.

I went into having pretty low expectations... because I felt like I didn't do everything "perfect". Well.... I was blown away tonight. My beer was actually partially carbonated, and the taste was absolute amazing (I'm not tooting my own horn... it was really good). We are talking after only one week and one day in the bottle... according to advice from you far more advanced brewers it's not deemed "ready" until after several weeks... and I've also heard it's usually considered "pretty awesome" after a couple months in the bottle..... so I can only imagine how much better it will be then! And it's already pretty darn tasty! It had a very nice head, and it was your typical IPA color (it may look a little darker because I have smoked glasses). There was very very little sediment as well, as we did a great job filtering into the primary to start with and then siphoning to the bottling bucket helped even more.... I don't think the use of the secondary (which we didn't use) would be necessary for how well we filtered it into the primary intially.... but utilizing this may make this awesome beer even better!

Anyway, I'm going to try and wait another week (but I probably won't make it that long) before I crack open another. I'm very pleased with my first batch and I'm just delighted that it turned out not just drinkable, but actually quite delicious!

Cheers to my first batch of tasty IPA!

 

[TheJadedDog]

Congrats, we told you it'd be okay!